166 Lectures on the liesults of the 



Having thus discussed the experimental portion of his lecture, 

 Dr Playfair concluded as follows : — 



These three practical discoveries, for I think they are entitled 

 to be considered as such, and not merely as inventions, have ema- 

 nated from men all highly educated in chemical science. It is a 

 proud subject of praise and of congratulation, that the two first 

 discoverers, Mr Mercer and Mr Young, have, by the aid of science, 

 raised themselves from the position of working artizans to that of 

 employers in works involving considerable capital in their prose- 

 cution. Science has been to them a true power, the more so as in 

 the arts which they profess, the manufacturers have usually been 

 men of technical and not of scientific knowledge. The very fact 

 of their success is a convincing evidence of what an immense de- 

 velopment our industry might receive, if its sons were able to take 

 advantage of the knowledge which science is constantly shower- 

 ing down upon the world. 



There is a wide chasm between the laboratory of the philoso- 

 pher and the workshop of the manufacturer — a chasm which must 

 be bridged over by those who understand the nature of the foun- 

 dations on either side. In general it is not the duty of the philo- 

 sopher to do this ; it is more important for social progress, that 

 he should continue to benefit the world by new accessions of truth, 

 leaving to others to apply them to the promotion of the comforts 

 and happiness of the human race. If technical men become dis- 

 ciples of science, then their acquaintance with the wants and re- 

 quirements of manufacturers would enable them to derive from its 

 teachings the knowledge requisite to apply it to the desired ends. 

 Science should roll on, as it does now, a mighty river, from the 

 abundant waters of which streams may be derived to fertilize the 

 lands over which they pass ; for in the course of nature, these 

 overflowings are restored in the form of refreshing showers. Their 

 beneficial effects will, however, depend upon the skill of those who 

 construct the channels destined to direct the waters for the uses of 

 industry. 



It is no new truth that science should always be ready to benefit 

 industry by instructing those engaged in it, rather than by directly 

 uniting with it. This truth is as old as the mythology, where we 

 find no celestial so beneficent to industrial arts as Minerva, al- 

 though she always preserved an independent existence, notwith- 

 standing the passionate wooing of Vulcan, the god of industry. 

 We have had it inculcated by the sages of all countries, strongly 

 enforced by our own Bacon, and eloquently advocated in the 

 theatre of this Institution by Davy. 



Abstract science could not, if it would, cause itself and industry 

 to progress satisfactorily by means of its discovering philosophers. 



